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Teacher-Lawyer

After 5 years in the field of education I am ready to throw in the proverbial towel and switch careers. Way back when, I decided to pursue teaching in lieu of going to law school and I have regretted this from the moment I graduated with my bachelors in elementary education 5 years ago. I have learned a hard life's lesson, that you should not chose a career path with the intention of helping others as you will find that most people do not want to be helped. I went into the education field sure that I was going to touch the lives of others and after 5 years of living in poverty and working 60+ hours a week to fulfill all my daily work requirements to benefit the lives of a population that does not care, I have realized that this is not a reality. If I am going to put in the hard work, and sacrifices my family has had to make, I would like to get something in return. Teaching offers nothing but negative comments in return for all your hard work. That being said, I would like to know if anyone else on here has or is thinking about going to law school and giving up teaching. If so, what is the process? I would assume I would have to obtain a dual bachelors degree in some other field but I am not sure what proper steps are needed to continue. Anyone have any experiences or suggestions to share? I am currently looking at Universities near San Diego and Pheonix as I live right in between these major cities.

I know people who have made the change from teacher to lawyer. There are no special requirements, just those that apply to all law school applicants. You won't need a second bachelor's degree. Any BA/BS will do as long as its from an accredited college.

You will need to take the LSAT, and admissions will be based almost entirely on your GPA and LSAT score.

I went into the education field sure that I was going to touch the lives of others and after 5 years of living in poverty and working 60+ hours a week to fulfill all my daily work requirements to benefit the lives of a population that does not care, I have realized that this is not a reality. If I am going to put in the hard work, and sacrifices my family has had to make, I would like to get something in return. Teaching offers nothing but negative comments in return for all your hard work.

Your first few years out of law school won't be very different, except that you may work longer than 60 hours. Seriously, check into the legal job market before you commit to this.

As far as CA vs AZ law schools, pick where you want to live after graduation and focus on law schools in that state. The bar exams are not reciprocal between these states, and it's easier to find employment in the state in which you go law school.

Not to throw a rain your parade, but you can do a lot of hard-work as a lawyer to and there is no shortage of people that will criticize you. In fact, the criticism may be far worse than you experience as a teacher and people you are trying to help may not always like what you are doing. Particularly, when you send them a bill for your services.

This is not designed to discourage you from pursuing the law, I enjoy being a lawyer, but you need a thick skin for this profession as well. If the sole reason you are going to law school is to "help people" that you might want to reconsider, because any profession where you "help people" is going to require you to encounter people that don't want the help. The pricetag for law school is a lot more than a B.A.

With that you can certainly become a lawyer and succeed, but have realistic expectations.

More importantly, step 1 is to take the LSAT if you hate studying for that you will hate law school. Furthermore, if you don't do well enough on the LSAT to get into law school, then you may also want to consider, but just take the test it is costs $100 and a Saturday afternoon, which is a pretty small price to pay to determine if switching careers is an option.

As to schools there are three ABA shools in San Diego USD, Thomas Jefferson and Cal-Western and only one in Phoenix, University of Phoenix this is "not" the online University of Phoenix school.

There are also several schools in L.A. worth looking into, but again before even thinking about any of that take the LSAT and really also figure out what you expect from being a lawyer. You will not be adorned with admiration and feel a sense of helping people every day as an attorney either. Being a lawyer is a job with its pros and cons just like teaching, it is not the golden ticket to ultimate professional happiness.

I am hoping that the original poster of this will see my comments, although I realize that this post was created months ago. To anyone else who is a teacher considering going into law, maybe my response will resonate with you.

I too, am entering my 5th year in teaching and am ready to "throw in the proverbial towel." However, my reasons for wanting to leave the classroom have little to do with teaching itself. I live and work in one of the most disenfranchised communities in the entire country. I grew up, live, and work on an Indian Reservation, where unemployment is as high as 60% and social disease is ravaging the community. Schools are perhaps the ONLY place where students feel safe. However, our district has become riddled with corruption in all forms ranging from nepotism to embezzlement. My desire to pursue the study of the law stems from growing up with and seeing increasingly horrific acts of injustice. Our administration has terrible policies, leaving teachers and students feeling demoralized, overworked, and under-appreciated. Someone in our community needs to step up and look at this under a microscope, but in our small, banged-up community, we have no lawyers. The only professionals we have in this town are doctors, and we cannot even keep them staffed permanently, because as soon as their children hit school age, they run. I don't blame them.

So I suppose my humble-brag begs the question: why do you want to go into law? I'm not saying I am Mother Teresa, and I wouldn't expect most people to be, either, but going into law connotes justice. I do not think that you will be immune from criticism being an attorney...in fact, you might be under the microscope yourself. However, being an attorney WILL certainly grant you more authority and power...a voice, I should say....than being a classroom teacher.